Life is expensive... Is it because few DIY? (sell, items, best)
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The math is very simple - if you can make more in the same time frame that you would spend DIY, rather then giving things done by someone else, let that someone do it. This applies only if you are a contractor. If you are standard 40/hr employee, it almost always makes sense to DIY.
In my case, though, things are more complicated. We bought house on a short sale, and it required almost complete remodeling. My problem is - I'm perfectionist. No matter how much I paid for contractors, they always, always, always end up with a sh..t result - by my standards (although I'm not asking it to be a "rocket-level" precision, but leaving 1-inch hole after new door is installed and cover it up with a caulk - is outrageous by any standard). So, all work in our house is done by myself - floor tiling, plumbing (including total bathrooms renovation), electrical, new walls, painting, trims, new kitchen, you name it. Took me forever since I had to carve out time from weekends, but all things now are absolutely flat, square, level, precise and neat.
You remind me of my dad. He wasn't handy, but anything that anyone repaired in the house drove him crazy. Even when something was fixed, the work still looked sloppy.
Its not just diy. We just bought a house that is a real fixer upper. That really drops the price. Others come along and can make a lot of money, because they go to the trouble of getting it updated.
But we have also been amazed at how cheap you can buy like new furniture from other people, or resale shops. Lamps for 10 bucks, a microvave for 30, a TV stand for 20.
The math is very simple - if you can make more in the same time frame that you would spend DIY, rather then giving things done by someone else, let that someone do it. This applies only if you are a contractor. If you are standard 40/hr employee, it almost always makes sense to DIY.
I am glad to see someone say this, it is VERY true.
I am an electrician, I have calls coming in all the time. I put those calls off to the next available opening.
I used to spend Sunday cleaning my house, landscaping, then doing other things such as changing my oil.
Instead of me cleaning for 3 hours, I now pay a cleaning lady $75 plus $5 tip to do it. She does a much better job than me, and I spend those 3 hours doing an electrical installation in which I make way more. Enough to cover the $80 and make a lot on top of it.
Instead of spending hours landscaping, I pay a landscaper and spend that time doing my own profession, which I make more money. The same with changing my oil, no more 2 hours on the weekend to get the oil, change it, then recycle the old oil. Now I do a service call instead and make more money.
Even cooking. Instead of coming home from work at 4PM and spending an hour cooking dinner, I will often spend that hour doing an extra service call (billed at $149) and pick up take-out.
Now this isn't only for contractors, it is for anyone who can do work, or extra work. If your 9-5 job doesn't offer overtime, then you can get a second job or start a small business. My cousin in a school teacher who charges $80/hr to tutor kids on the weekend. A friend builds websites for local businesses. Another friend has a completely different second job, but makes enough to cover all of those DIY things and then some, so it makes sense to spend the time doing that job.
There are so many opportunities to make extra money. As long as you are making more than you pay for those services, then I would consider it Frugal Living
I don't think any local service providers are interested in dropping their prices to try to get my business on jobs I normally DIY though.
You are absolutely correct. As a local service provider, I will tell you that I specifically avoid DIYers, I move on to better customers. I am certainly not going to lower my price to try to get more DIYers.
Last edited by streams12344; 07-11-2019 at 05:35 AM..
I would rather maximize my own income and net worth by focusing my efforts at learning and doing on the things that interest me and for which I have the talent to accomplish.
I hate mowing the lawn and all the little tasks that go into maintaining attractive landscaping, so my yard always looked a little ratty until I reached a point where I could hire professionals to take care of it.
I have no interest in working on my car. I'm happy to pay trusted professionals to take care of it for me.
I understand how my car, my tools, and my appliances work, but I really have no interest in fixing them myself, nor do I have any desire to undertake home renovation projects myself.
I do not like most household DIY projects, so increasing my income and assets to be able to pay someone else to do all of that for me was a great motivator during my career.
My dad always said the best benefit of having money was the choices it provides. He was right. I focused on what I was good at so I could have the money to afford to pay others to do all the things I'm not good at and don't like doing. I'm grateful to be living in the present when there are people who are good at doing the things I cannot do or do not want to do, and I am happy to be able to make the choice to pay them for their skills.
Yup, exactly my thoughts.
I imagine that a lot of people in this thread spend 10-20 hours per week DIYing everything from repairs to cleaning to cooking. If they spent all, or even just some of those hours performing their profession, or even started a new business, they could easily make significantly more than they would spend having service providers perform those tasks.
You must be exaggerating? ALL that was done to his car is a light bulb was changed, and this customer was charged $500? No way. Absolutely no way.
If this is an actual true story, and the dealership stood behind their charging a customer $500 for replacing a light bulb, this needs to be reported to consumer protection and the man needs to refuse to pay. I would suspect a local consumer watch dog in the media would be very interested to hear this story, OP.
It's most likely an expensive assembly in the dash that requires many hours to open up and replace and possibly reprogram.
But even if it was just a bulb, why is that wrong? Shop around, you don't have to buy their services.
Why is it that a restaurant can sell a steak for $150, or a night club can sell a bottle of champagne for $1,200, or a purse manufacturer can sell a couple feet of leather with a name brand on it for $5,000, yet people want to get up in arms about a local business doing the same? Those other businesses are universally known for their exorbitant prices, and applauded.
I'm very DIY. I grew up in a household full of people in construction, and later became an engineer. Working with my hands came naturally, and for years if it needed to be fixed, I would do it myself...and could do it myself with skill. I've saved thousands of dollars over the years DIY my own maintenance and repairs of appliances, cars, home, etc.
Now i'm nearing 40, and free time is a rare commodity. I'd rather enjoy my time, vs fixing crap all the time.
For example, I need to aerate my lawn in the fall. Normally it's $80 for a 4-hr rental, plus the time and PITA of going to the place to rent it from, loading up the truck, unloading it, and then returning it when i'm done 2 hours later....
...or I pay TruGreen $120 to do it for me and spend that 2 hours golfing.
I'm very DIY. I grew up in a household full of people in construction, and later became an engineer.
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For example, I need to aerate my lawn in the fall. Normally it's $80 for a 4-hr rental, plus the time and PITA of going to the place to rent it from, loading up the truck, unloading it, and then returning it when i'm done 2 hours later....
...or I pay TruGreen $120 to do it for me and spend that 2 hours golfing.
Or, as an engineer, you do a little bit of consulting on the side. For those 2-3 hours you do your profession, charge $500, pay TruGreen $120, and profit the rest.
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